Boris Johnson set out his vision of a global, modern and liberal Brexit on Wednesday. But in a 45 minute performance, the U.K. foreign secretary mentioned the Irish border not once.

Too detailed and technocratic, you might argue, for a speech with lofty political aims, but without addressing how the divorce will affect the borders between Northern Ireland, the Republic and mainland Britain, it’s hard to make a convincing argument for how Brexit will actually work.

Setting out to win over stubborn Remainers, who want to stick close to EU laws as a next-best-thing to staying in the bloc, Johnson made the argument for breaking free and taking back control.

“We would be mad to go through this process of extrication from the EU, and not to take advantage of the economic freedoms it will bring,” he said.

Trouble is, Prime Minister Theresa May agreed in December that no hard border would emerge on the island of Ireland after Brexit, and if it’s not possible to achieve that any other way, then the rules of Northern Ireland would remain aligned with those of the Republic of Ireland. May also has promised no border between Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain – and it’s still not clear how that circle can be squared.

Johnson name-checked fishing and agriculture as examples where the U.K. “will be able to do our own thing.” Agriculture is one of the areas where May is said to be keen to break free from EU rules, too. But it’s also an area that’s key to a frictionless border in Ireland. (Not just because cows roam freely over the border, but because EU farmers want to be sure it doesn’t become a route for non-EU products to slip into the bloc.)

While Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, the unofficial leader of the hard Brexit movement, is blasé about the Irish border and suggests that a blind eye to smuggling is the best solution, pro-Brexit ministers in government are yet to set out clearly how Northern Ireland would be affected. Technology is often cited as a solution, but the Irish say that if technology is the answer, you’re asking the wrong question.

The Irish border remains probably the issue most likely to upset the Brexit process from here to the end of the year. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar issued another of his now regular warnings on Wednesday that the December agreement must be respected.

The U.K. side says that getting a good trade deal with the bloc will allow for a frictionless border. But the EU doesn’t expect the trade agreement to be finished in time for Brexit day: They’re aiming by year-end for an agreement on the withdrawal, which will be accompanied by a political (non-legal) statement on what kind of trade deal both sides will aim for. Meanwhile the EU is trying to write May’s December pledges on Ireland into legal text – and on exit day May will be bound by those promises.

Bloomberg’s Tim Ross and Alex Morales boil the speech down to six key takeaways.

Brexit Latest

Transition Shift | The EU may be prepared to water down a mechanism to sanction the U.K. if it breaks EU rules during the transition period, Politico reports. The initial proposal was met with ire in London.

All Ears | German Chancellor Angela Merkel will urge May at a meeting on Friday in Berlin to present concrete plans for Britain’s future relationship with the European Union after Brexit, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. Merkel will be hoping May has forgotten the reports from Davos of Merkel mocking her fellow leader’s Brexit bargaining. May gives a speech on Brexit and security in Munich on Saturday.

Brexit Boosts Wages | The BOE said companies are expecting to increase their pay settlements this year to the highest since the financial crisis due to the rising cost of living, staff shortages and the jump in the national living wage. For the central bank, that’s evidence that currency-driven inflation since the Brexit vote is turning into domestic cost pressures.

Juncker Fights Back | Jean-Claude Juncker struck back at Johnson’s accusations that he wanted to build a European superstate. “Some in the British political society are against the truth, pretending that I’m a stupid, stubborn federalist,” Juncker told reporters in Brussels. “I’m strictly against a European superstate,” he said.

Moving On | The European Commission outlined plans on Wednesday for plugging the budget hole left by Brexit, as well as a proposal to merge the roles of the EU’s two presidents (the roles now carried out by Juncker and Donald Tusk). It proposed redirecting a share of the revenue from auctions of carbon-emissions permits from national coffers to the bloc’s budget.

City on Notice | The ECB renewed its warning on Wednesday that it won’t tolerate “empty shell” firms being set up in the euro area that route key management, oversight and trading activities back to the U.K. or another foreign country. Local management and “proven trading and hedging capacities on the ground” will be required.

On the Markets | Economists who were slow to predict the first Bank of England interest-rate hike in a decade now expect the next one to come in May, David Goodman and Harumi Ichikura report. But the decision is seen as on a knife-edge. The pound was higher for a fourth day on Thursday to $1.4013 in early trading.

And Finally…

Much has been written about the power of secret WhatsApp groups to shape national politics. But the reality, write Rob Hutton and Kitty Donaldson, is quite different. WhatsApp chats are more likely to be filled with pictures of cats, dinners, or comments on last night’s TV than serious intrigue.

“Anyone joining in the hope of House of Cards-style plotting will be very disappointed,” said Tory lawmaker James Cleverly.

Even the chatroom for the secretive European Research Group, which has gained notoriety as a power base for Conservative lawmakers seeking a hard Brexit is less interesting than it first appears, one of the more than 90 people in the WhatsApp group said on condition of anonymity. No plotting takes place there and any sensitive discussions would be discussed in ERG Chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg’s office.

Still, it’s an example of how groups can alarm those not included. Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s allies gathered in a chatroom called Phoenix which, according to the Mail on Sunday, worried May’s staff because they thought it represented a phoenix rising from the ashes and Gove’s plans to topple her. It turned out to be the name of the pub where they used to meet.